80s TV Ladies

What’s your favorite 80s television theme songs?
Susan and Sharon were invited to be on Dave Sloan and Holly Cantos podcast “What Difference Does It Make?” to talk 80s TV theme songs and retro music -- and they all had so much fun they’re bringing Part Two of the conversation here!
If you want to hear Part One, here’s the link to the 80s TV Ladies episode of “What Difference Does It Make?” And get ready to relive – and rehear -- some great TV theme songs! (“Moonlighting” with Al Jarreau, anyone?)
THE CONVERSATION

• Whatever happened to TV theme songs?? Sharon has a theory...
• What pop song stalled at 79 on the Billboard charts in 1981 – then climbed to number one six years later when it was featured on “Family Ties” in 1987?
• Thirty-two Oscar winners set sail on the “Love Boat” – can you name five? (We’ll spot you Jamie Lee Curtis)
• The magic of those old network promotional specials with all the stars - from Battle of the Network Stars to ABC's Love Boat Fall Preview Special!
• “Remington Steele”’s bizarre Season Two opening credit sequence where Laura and Steele sit in a theater and watch scenes of themselves -- from their own show!
• Which “Golden Girl” are Susan and Sharon? Which one are you?
• That weird “Wednesday” dance song, Goo Goo Muck by The Cramps!
• “Skyfall”-ing with Susan and Rich – just don’t do it around the kids...
• TV HOUSES – THEY’RE ALL HERE IN L.A.! Sharon walked past the Brady Bunch house a million times before realizing it! (And no, she didn’t buy it...)

Join Susan and Sharon – and Dave and Holly – as they talk “Night Court”, “China Beach”, “Bosom Buddies” – and why Susan’s afraid to watch “The Last of Us”!
AUDIOGRAPHY
Check out Dave and Holly’s 80s Music podcast “What Difference Does It Make?”
Watch the shot-by-shot opening credits remake of Simon & Simon at The Greatest Event in Television History on adult swim.
Listen to the 8TL212: Fav TV Theme with WDDIM Spotify playlist!
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
The 90s TV Babies have to watch the following episodes of “It’s a Living”
Season 1: Ep 1 & Ep 13
Season 3: Ep 2
Season 5: Ep 2
Season 6: Ep 1
CONNECT
For transcripts, contact info and more visit 80sTVLadies.com.
Don’t miss out. Sign up for the 80s TV Ladies mailing list.
Get ad-free episodes and exclusive videos on PATREON.
80’s TV Ladies has been nominated for three People’s Choice Podcast Awards!
This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5585115/advertisement

Season 3 of “Scarecrow & Mrs. King” is a fun, and kind of bonkers, 22-episode journey that is anything but straight-forward. International intrigue, poisoned food and wine, eclectic guest stars and a herky-jerky path to romance all add up to a season with surprising rewards – and puzzling road blocks. In this week’s tour of near-misses and near-kisses, we discuss...
- Are Lee (Bruce Boxleinter) and Amanda (Kate Jackson) heating up – or on slow-boil? And why is WKRP in Cincinnati’s Frank Bonner suddenly invading Amanda’s home life?
- What’s on First? A re-shuffle of the first five episodes leaves us with more questions than answers. Why the last minute change up? And how does it affect the development of Lee and Amanda's relationship?
- Special Guest and friend-of-the-show Richard Hatem (Titans, Grimm) joins in to talk about why some shows choose (or are forced) to air their episodes out of production order...
- Who’s the Boss? A third season brings us a THIRD showrunner – George Geiger (Hunter, Profiler), more female scribes (Kathleen A. Shelley, Whitney Wherrett Roberson, Lynne Kelsey) – and the directorial debut of... Ms. Kate Jackson!
- Some of our favorite – and some of the weirdest – episodes ever: Garrett Morris as an African Prime Minister? Lee and Amanda as brother and sister? A retirement home for aging spies? Dottie (Beverly Garland) getting hot and heavy with... A KGB agent? And the return of Amanda’s ex-husband??
Join us as we slip sideways down a twisty-turny Season Three road – with a few bumps along the way – to arrive at Lee and Amanda’s (finally) first official kiss!
AUDIO-OGRAPHY
Beverly Garland: Her Life and Career by Deborah Del Vecchio
https://www.amazon.com/Beverly-Garland-Her-Life-Career/dp/0786465018
Come Walk With Me - A fun, blog journey through all 88 episodes!
https://justwalkwithme.com
Find Richard Hatem at
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0368818/
https://twitter.com/richardhatem
Watch Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Season 3
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B00578YIYE/ref=atv_dp_season_select_s3
Get ABC Miracles - created by Richard Hatem https://www.amazon.com/Miracles-Complete-Skeet-Ulrich/dp/B0007N1AM2
Watch D.C. Titans on HBOMax https://www.hbomax.com/series/urn:hbo:series:GX3Uw2AN9CaHCwwEAAALT
For more information or to download a transcript of this podcast, visit our website: https://80stvladies.com
Don’t miss out on everything 80s TV Ladies. Sign up for our mailing list! - http://eepurl.com/h1YPWH
This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5585115/advertisement

Susan and Sharon get to sit down with writer/producer/show-runner Maggie Friedman to talk about the show that inspired her to embark on a career in television: Designing Women.
Designing Women (1986-1993) was created by the legendary Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and starred Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Jean Smart, Annie Potts and Meshach Taylor as the owners and staff of the Atlanta-based interior design firm “Sugarbaker & Associates”. In its seven-year run, Designing Women was known for sharp writing, big laughs and taking on issues from a feminist angle in a way that no other show had done before – or since.
Maggie Friedman is best known for creating, writing and executive producing Witches of East End for Lifetime Television and Firefly Lane currently on Netflix. She has also written and produced episodes of Dawson’s Creek, Jack & Bobby, Once and Again, Wasteland, Spellbound and No Tomorrow.
THE CONVERSATION

• How an Ally McBeal spec script got Maggie into a room with Kevin Williamson – and onto the staff of his first show, Dawson's Creek.
• Maggie set her sights on getting into AFI – and did -- because a mean girl told her she couldn’t!
• HE DID IT/SHE LIED: Those T-Shirts from the Designing Women Anita Hill episode, and the impact it had on Maggie.
• Which of the Designing Women are you? Sharon is a Julia, but is Susan Mary Jo – or Anthony?
• “Guns, and AIDS, and condoms – OH MY!” How Designing Women took on all the current issues, that are unfortunately still current today.
• SPOILER ALERT: What happens when you write HUGE CLIFFHANGERS – and then your show gets cancelled!
• Big Hair, Big Shoulders! Was the Atlanta of Designing Women accurate? Susan grew up in Georgia -- and has thoughts.
• Republican Dixie Carter’s deal: “For every liberal rant you make Julia say, I get to sing a song!”
• “Georgia On My Mind”: Ray Charles sings with the Designing Women!
• Young Susan’s brush with fame: Mark Harmon and Peter Scolari – both in one hour!
• “WOMEN OF THE HOUSE” – the little-known 1995 “sequel” where Suzanne Sugarbaker goes to Congress to fill her late husband’s house seat.

So join Susan, Sharon – and Maggie – as they talk Jackie Collins, Witches of East End, Scott Bakula, --- and how sexy Richard Hatem is!
AUDIOGRAPHY
Follow Maggie Friedman on Instagram.
Check out the fan website: Designing Women Online.
Stream Designing Women on Hulu, Amazon Prime, Pluto!
Find more cool podcasts at our network, Weirding Way Media.
For spooky Halloween Season fun, visit our friends Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess at their podcast “Astonishing Legends".
CONNECT
For transcripts, contact info and more, visit 80sTVLadies.com.
Sign up for the 80s TV Ladies mailing list.
Get ad-free episodes and exclusive videos on PATREON.
BEST FEMALE HOSTED - BEST TV & FILM - BEST ART PODCAST
80’s TV Ladies has WON three People’s Choice Podcast Awards!
NOMINATED: Best Moment of Raw Emotion
80s TV Ladies is nominated for an International Women’s Podcast Award!
This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5585115/advertisement

Susan and Sharon sit down with the co-creator of “Scarecrow & Mrs. King” - Eugenie Ross-Leming - to get some real behind-the-scenes insight on the show's creation, Kate Jackson, Bruce Boxleitner, feminism in television, and managing long-term success in Hollywood. The discussion includes...
- Eugenie’s early years with the legendary improvisation troupe Second City, where she performed with the likes of John Belushi, Harold Ramis and Bill Murray.
- Writing for Norman Lear on the ground-breaking late-night serials “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” starring Louise Lasser and creating “Fernwood 2 Night” starring Martin Mull and Fred Willard.
- How she and writing partner Brad Buckner first pitched “Scarecrow & Mrs. King” to CBS -- and failed to sell it – only to have their luck change when junior executive Carla Singer was promoted and brought them back for another shot.
- Working with Kate Jackson and the last-minute casting of Bruce Boxleitner.
- Details on the wild days of producing the “Scarecrow” pilot – and her and Brad’s decision to leave the highly successful hit series they created.
Along the way, we’ll hear about the importance of staying true to your vision, the lessons learned over a forty-year career that spans “Scarecrow” to “Lois & Clark” to “Supernatural” -- and the sustaining power of two of the most important relationships in her life: her longtime writing partner Brad Buckner, and her husband, Director and Producer Robert Singer.
Join us as we go in-depth with a TV legend and creative powerhouse: Eugenie Ross-Leming.
AUDIO-OGRAPHY
Eugenie Ross-Leming: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743935
Scarecrow Facebook fansite: https://www.facebook.com/scarecrowandmrs.king
Mrs. King Chronicles: http://www.mkcpodcast.com
When Women Invented Television by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
https://www.amazon.com/When-Women-Invented-Television-Powerhouses/dp/0062973304
Ladies of the Evening: Women Characters in Prime-Time Television by Diana M. Meehan
https://www.amazon.com/Ladies-Evening-Characters-Prime-Time-Television/dp/0810816342
For more information or to download a transcript of this podcast, visit our website: https://80stvladies.com
Don’t miss out on everything 80s TV Ladies. Sign up for our mailing list! - http://eepurl.com/h1YPWH
This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5585115/advertisement

“When you’re doing the right thing, the right things happen” – Lynda Carter to David Johnson about creating “The Ultimate Fan’s Guide to Scarecrow and Mrs. King”.
Susan and Sharon geek out with SMK experts David R. Johnson, Taya Johnston and Sabine Ludewig – the authors of “The Ultimate Fan’s Guide to Scarecrow and Mrs. King” - a #1 Bestseller in TV and Film on Amazon Books!
How do three people from far-flung parts of the world come together to write the ultimate book about their favorite show? All it takes is forty years of love, dedication – and an attic full of TV Guides!
THE CONVERSATION

• David’s parents made sure to never plan anything on Mondays so he wouldn't miss a single episode!
• In Germany, the show is called “Agent with Heart”.
• How the network tried to NOT run SMK's pilot episode "The First Time" first! They wanted it fourth? Big mistake, which other 80s shows have made...
• “QUIET DOWN, YOU KIDS!” -- The time Kate Jackson had to personally pay off some noisy neighbors so SMK could get their scenes completed.
• COMFORT VIEWING: Taya returned to the show during a difficult time, when her son was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. And Sabine re-found the show after a break-up. She binged them to re-discover who she was and what she wanted out of life – including learning English.
• BARBIE AND KEN... AND LEE, AMANDA, KATE AND BRUCE: Taya named her Barbies after the characters and actors from the show!
• LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: David, Taya and Sabine have discovered over 1,000 SMK filming locations! Such as...
  
  • The inside of the IFF is The Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in downtown Los Angeles.
  • The Ballroom where the chandelier explodes in “The Triumvirate” is at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena.
• TOP RULE FOR FIRST-TIME BOOK WRITERS: Write your table of contents first!
• Wait! Is the concept of "Riptide" really three men and a robot living on a boat and solving crime?
• What other 80s show did David research? The short-lived detective duo show, "Partners in Crime" starring Lynda Carter and Loni Anderson!
• Getting the cast interviews – including the one they thought would never happen...

So join Susan and Sharon – and David, Taya and Sabine – as they talk Kate Jackson, Bruce Boxleitner, Martha Smith, Mel Stuart, Beverly Garland, breaking into secret locations, claiming the family TV for yourself -- and David’s personal replica of “Mrs. King Mobile”!
AUDIOGRAPHY
Get your own copy of “The Ultimate Fan’s Guide to Scarecrow and Mrs. King” at Amazon.
Visit the “Scarecrow and Mrs. King” Facebook Fanpage.
Listen to “Mrs. King Chronicles” podcast at Mrs. King Chronicles.
CONNECT
For transcripts, contact info and more, visit 80sTVLadies.com.
Join the fun. Sign up for the 80s TV Ladies mailing list.
Get ad-free episodes and exclusive videos on PATREON.
BEST FEMALE HOSTED - BEST TV & FILM - BEST ART PODCAST
80’s TV Ladies has WON three People’s Choice Podcast Awards!
This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5585115/advertisement